Ron Harris was a wealthy man who had a company distributing 16-mm films, obviously prior to the days of video, who was running his own Formula Junior team. Apart from my initial experience of driving a racing car for the first time, this is the only other thing I distinctly remember from those early days. But what a day! Ron had his office in Surbiton, Surrey; around the corner was a car sales run by John Gee-Turner. He was to be one of my teammates. There was another chap who was offered a drive too, but I can’t recall his name, but I remember our first race together. We all went up to Snetterton for our first race; I think it was September time, quite late in the season anyhow. When I got there I saw these two Lotus 20s on a double-deck trailer. Ron came to the circuit in his red E-Type Jaguar coupe, with its gleaming chrome wheels. I couldn’t believe it; I was in the presence of motor racing royalty. E-Type Jaguars were things that were at the cutting edge of motoring, it was a car still being talked about, and I hadn’t dreamed that anyone had one yet. It’s something I remember as though it were yesterday—it made a great impression on me.
In the race I had qualified reasonably well, I’m not sure of my grid position— possibly halfway, but, I hadn’t disgraced myself. The other chap was a couple of places behind me. John Hogan, a real hero of mine who’d raced at the Isle of Man TT on a BSA he built himself, was a spectator at the first corner. As the flag dropped, we all sped off from the grid to the first righthander— Riches Corner—as I was about to turn, CRASH!! My teammate had Tboned me. I walked back to the pits and told the team what had happened. Ron accepted what I had said. The other chap said I’d hit him, John had seen what had happened and told Ron. I was asked to wait for a phone call, which I got a few weeks later when I learned I had a full-time drive in the Ron Harris Team for the 1962 season.
